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16-12-2020
TEHRAN/ PARIS/ LONDON: While Iran is not “excited” by Joe Biden taking over at the White House, it was “very happy” to see the end of Donald Trump’s reign as US president, according to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani.
Addressing a televised meeting of the cabinet on Wednesday, Rouhani called Trump “rogue” and “the most lawbreaking person in the US”
“We are not very excited with Biden coming, but we are very happy with Trump going,” Rouhani said.
“A person who committed so many atrocities, who was a killer, a terrorist, who doesn’t even spare our vaccine efforts, this is how much this person is bereft of all ethical and human principles.”
Iran is dealing with the largest and deadliest COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East.
It maintains that the Trump administration has been actively trying to block its efforts to buy a vaccine through the World Health Organization.
Iran has been under harsh economic sanctions by the US since 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Biden has promised to return the US to the deal and lift sanctions if Iran complies with its terms but has also said negotiations are needed to address Iran’s missiles program and regional activities, something Iran rejects.
Rouhani also responded to what he called claims by foreign and local media that say Iran’s conditions are different than 2015 for negotiations as the 
country is under more pressure.
The president agreed that conditions were different but added they favour Iran more now than they did when the nuclear deal was being finalized.
Rouhani added that Iran used to import petrol, gasoline, natural gas and wheat among other things in 2015, but it now exports them.
“Our strength today cannot even be compared to that time,” he said, adding that Iran’s missiles, military and nuclear programs have become much more empowered.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday 
used his first public appearance in weeks to suggest the United States would remain hostile towards the Islamic Republic even after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
Speaking at his first public function since rumours surfaced in early December that his health was deteriorating; Khamenei said Washington could not be trusted, a remark indicating a wary attitude towards President Donald Trump’s successor.
In a meeting with organizers of events to mark the first anniversary of the killing of military commander Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. attack in Iraq, 
Khamenei said American antagonism would not disappear with the end of the Trump administration.
“My firm recommendation is not to trust the enemy,” Khamenei said in remarks carried by state TV.
“The hostility (against Iran) is not just from Trump’s America, which supposedly some could say would end when he leaves, as (President Barack) Obama’s America also did bad things to …the Iranian nation.”
Earlier, President Hassan Rouhani said he was happy Trump was leaving 
office, calling him “the most lawless U.S. president” and a “murderer” for hampering Iran’s access to Covid-19 vaccines.
“We are not overjoyed about Biden’s arrival, but we are happy about Trump leaving … that such a terrorist and murderer, who does not even have mercy for coronavirus vaccines, will be gone,” Rouhani said in a televised speech to the cabinet.
Iran says U.S. sanctions are making it difficult for Iran to purchase medicine and health supplies from abroad, including COVID-19 vaccines needed to contain the worst outbreak in the Middle East.
The Trump administration has imposed crippling sanctions on Iran’s banking sector and its vital oil and gas industry since unilaterally withdrawing from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018.
While Washington says that medicines and humanitarian goods are exempt from sanctions, the restrictions on trade and financial activities have deterred some foreign banks from processing financial transactions involving Iran.
TV footage showed Khamenei wearing a mask during Wednesday’s meeting and sitting at the head of a large room with several attendees seated to either 
side, in accordance with COVID-19 social distancing protocols.
The meeting followed rumours on social media earlier this month that the 81-year-old’s health was deteriorating.
Several news organizations had reported the rumours, referring to a tweet by a journalist in Arabic who said Khamenei had transferred duties to his son because of his health.
Khamenei has served as supreme leader since 1989, with the final say on all state matters. His health has been the subject of speculation for years.
(mailto:dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.comEditing by Alison Williams, Angus MacSwan, William Maclean)
On the other hand, France said on Sunday its ambassador to Iran would not participate in an online business forum in Tehran this week, in a growing row between Iran and European nations over the execution of Iranian dissident journalist Ruhollah Zam.
Other envoys from Germany, Austria and Italy were also cancelling their involvement in the Dec. 14 event, the French foreign ministry said on Twitter. At the foot of its tweet, the ministry ran the hashtag #nobusinessasusual.
In a separate statement, organisers of the Europe-Iran business forum later said they were postponing the event.
Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the envoys from France and from Germany, current holder of the European Union’s rotating presidency, to protest over French and EU criticism of the execution on Saturday, Iranian media reported.
France on Saturday called Zam’s execution “barbaric and unacceptable”, and said it ran counter to Iran’s international obligations. Zam had been based in Paris before he was captured in Iraq and taken to Iran.
Zam was convicted of fomenting violence during anti-government protests in 2017. His Amadnews feed had more than 1 million followers.
France and its European allies have strived to keep alive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, in part to save the Iranian economy from collapse, while confronting U.S. efforts to kill the accord.
The new friction over human rights comes as U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who is set to take office on Jan. 20, has said he will return the United States to the Obama-era deal if Iran resumes compliance with the agreement.
The EU also strongly condemned Zam’s execution, as did Amnesty International and press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Iranian officials have accused the United States, as well asTehran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia and government opponentsliving in exile, of stoking the unrest that began in late 2017as regional protests over economic hardship spread nationwide. (Int’l News Desk)
